The University of Southern California is working with a local community group to help young Black men succeed in college.
The university is partnering with Los Angeles attorney Don Dennis, who operates a program called Sons of Abraham, which provides mentoring opportunities to African American boys. According to the group’s website, their goal is to “create productive citizens that will positively change society.”
The Sons of Abraham mentoring program has worked closely with USC psychology professor Gabe Crenshaw, Ph.D. He has counselled parents and mentees, led parenting class discussions and offered academic coaching. Crenshaw and USC alumni recently hosted the boys in a classroom at the USC School of Social Work. Inside the classroom, they watched a video about attending USC, heard presentations from Black alumni about their experiences, and got motivated about going to college at USC, Dennis said.
Alexi Waul, associate director of scholarship for the USC School of Social Work, said the partnership came as the resultof a conversation between him and Crenshaw.
“I know Gabe from the School of Social Work,” Waul said “We have a joint passion for helping African American youth.”
Apart from being involved in the planning and execution of the program, Waul is also overseeing the research aspect. The research will track the academic success of African American students who have been through mentoring programs, compared to students who haven’t been mentored.
As an African American, Waul realizes the challenge young Black males face navigating the American education system. They may also feel social pressure to get involved with negative behavior.
“A higher population of African American males have legal problems and are attracted to the pitfalls of the inner-city community,” Waul said.
The research will try and answer why Black males struggle in college, and how to improve their academic performance.
Currently African American women graduate from college at higher rates than African American men. According to statistics from the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, women receive about two-thirds of all African American given bachelor’s degrees, 70 percent of master’s degrees and 60 percent of doctorate degrees. This leads to a major imbalance in the professional world.
“The fact that Black women significantly outnumber Black men at these institutions will have a spillover effect in graduate school, in professional positions, and in leadership posts in our society,” reported the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. “The fact that far more Black women than Black men will achieve the credential of a diploma from these top schools means that far more women than men will be admitted to the nation’s best graduate and professional schools. In turn, far more will go on to become lawyers, doctors, and corporate leaders.”
However, Waul points out women of all races have higher college graduation rates than men. This maybe attributed to women maturing faster than young men, he said.
Dennis said one of the goals of the partnership with USC is to show young men that going to college is an achievable goal.
He said some students have a hard time making the leap from high school to college, which has a more rigorous academic program.
“If you are not adequately prepared, you are going to struggle,” Dennis said.
According to Dennis, the Sons of Abraham mentoring program has been around for about 10 years and currently mentors about 40 boys from ages 7 to 17. The program provides them with one-on-one mentoring, offers field trips to places like USC and also educates the boys about different career fields.
Dennis said several mentees have gone to college. He is particularly proud of one graduate, Demetrious Ingram, who became a licensed pilot at the age of 18. Dennis said the young man is now working towards becoming a commercial pilot.
Inez Wade, who works for the City of Los Angeles Department of Airports, has enrolled her son, Brian Brass, in the Sons of Abraham program for several years.
“I wanted him to be exposed to positive role models, since his father’s not active in his life,” Wade said.
She has noticed positive changes in her son’s attitude because of the Sons of Abraham program. It focuses on responsibility, making wise decisions, accountability, character and being a man.
“He makes references to the program,” Wade said. “I have noticed he is making better choices.”
Wade said her son was also impressed with the tour of the USC campus and was constantly talking about it after he got back.
“The Sons of Abraham program nurtured the seed I tried to plant,” Wade said.
